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While the existentially challenged Conservative party convenes in Manchester for its annual party conference, it has a lot to reflect on regarding its next steps. There is uncertainty if a clear direction is available. These are challenging circumstances for a political party that now has little, if anything, new or unique to say to the public.

An Alternate Reality

It could have been markedly improved if tangible progress had been made on an agenda that is important for people throughout the UK: Social mobility. Yet the previous administration did not possess the slightest idea on how to convert the popular slogan on levelling up into concrete action. Over twenty-four months after the general election, it discussed what the term truly represented.

It seemed strange to me, because I had clearly defined for the Prime Minister what social mobility meant when we originally talked about it during the contest for party leader. The phrase was a term I developed and used at the Department for Education to talk about equal opportunity. This became our departmental mantra, and its purpose is clear: levelling up is the means by which we achieve equality of opportunity – not by taking chances away from those who are already advantaged, but rather by providing opportunities to those that are without.

Essential Principle

Another crucial ministry expression we used, “talent is spread evenly across our country, however access isn’t”, represented another a purposeful phrase, embodying the two parts of a fairness agenda. To begin with, talent spread evenly but not cultivated evenly through our learning institutions. Second, chances not distributed fairly by businesses or our economy. As a result, education and business were essential to achieving stronger social mobility. This was an priority about the societal structure of our country – fostering people’s potential and connecting them to chances.

The Reality of Implementation

How did the social mobility agenda become under the Tory administration? Regional development money administered out of the the relevant ministry. Hanging baskets and redeveloped traffic systems. An official policy document was launched almost thirty-six months after Johnson became leader, which saw ongoing initiatives rebadged under the fresh social mobility slogan.

Consequently, a broader social mobility agenda went undeveloped, as well as all the improvement that it could have inspired – in funding, commerce, fiscal strategy, revenue and in local regeneration. Moreover, in learning, including a university system that has become a punchbag for elected officials – despite the fact that it remains the primary vehicle of social mobility for youth from modest backgrounds, personally, this country has had throughout modern times. Perhaps the primary source of social mobility, functioning widely.

The Role of Ambition

Aspiration is vital for our country to succeed. For hope to exist, there needs to be a believable feeling that effort and reward are related; that if people aim high, they can attain. For all administrations, being able to create a sense of optimism about the tomorrow is critical. Analysis by the Institute for Policy Research at the university and others, published last month, showed that the DfE’s 12 “opportunity areas” I launched while in office – community-focused methods to boosting academic achievement – led to youth in those neighborhoods being up to a significant margin more positive about their future than those in comparable communities without these initiatives in place. The evidence is clear: just making an authentic start on fair opportunity strategies can swiftly and beneficially change how people perceive their prospects.

Lost Potential

Unaware of these findings, and in the midst of its post-Johnson leadership contest, in that period, the Conservative government terminated the programmes. Why would anyone in those areas vote for a political group that did that? The targeted programme is a single instance of what had the potential to be a game-changing Conservative government agenda on social mobility, but that opportunity was totally misused. Methods such as this can inspire hope and aspiration. Conversely, as the Conservatives learned, breaking the promise of fair chances is the most expensive error any government can make. The public held accountable the administration for its ineffectiveness but, primarily, for its failed pledges on social mobility.

Today’s Political Reality

Now the mandate on equal opportunity and equality of opportunity has passed to a Labour government. The levelling up rhetoric has been discarded. Labour has its own public messaging of “removing obstacles to success”. The party that is increasingly displacing the failing incumbents, Reform UK, also has its own message – “industrial revival”. The terminology to talk about additional chances in regions like the one I come from, in South Yorkshire. It suggests that an former economic strength can revive into an industrial future.

For voters, it must feel like a repetitive cycle. Same issue, alternative phrasing. Yet, currently, little improvement.

Lessons for the Future

Whether the government and opposition want to avoid the same fate, both these parties should take lessons from the Conservatives’ failure on social mobility; that equal opportunity talk is simple terminology, but actual achievement of more equal results is far more challenging. Our nation’s persistently low equal opportunity remains the primary challenge for our country, with the next generation unable to get a proper professional launch, those working hard in employment with little to show after the living expenses are met, and citizens throughout the UK without any genuine belief their children will be able to do advance in life than they have.

Leaders can discuss fairer opportunities as much as they want. But where is the organization that has the comprehensive policy agenda on social mobility? None appear to exist. The first to achieve this, prevails. Not just for their party, but, crucially, for a whole country that has urgently needs fair chances so desperately.